The Evolution Of The Top Global Brands

There’s a crazy interesting infographic making the rounds on social media showing how the list of the top 15 global brands (ranked by their market valuation) has changed from 2000 to 2018. First click into this Visual Capitalist link and then play the video. It takes about 6 minutes, but you won’t be able to stop staring at the screen as the various brands jockey up and down the rankings over time.

To me what’s most fascinating is how far we’ve come in less than 20 years. Back in 2004 Marlboro was still in the top 10 (not kidding!), and little tech startups you may have heard of like Google, Apple, and Amazon were years away from making it. Then in 2008 things started to change. Check out how fast Google and then Apple rocket up the list during a five year stretch from 2008-2013. Then watch Amazon do the same thing over the last few years.

Besides just geeking out on where we’ve been over the last two decades, it really makes you wonder what’s to come. In 2040 will today’s tech titans like Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft still rule the roost, or will it be other companies we’ve barely heard of today? I can’t wait to find out!